Texas company holds ground breaking ceremony for natural-gas power plant in Loudoun County

Dallas-based Panda Power Funds held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday for the natural gas power plant it is building in Loudoun County.

Construction on the Stonewall project, located 4 miles southeast of Leesburg, started in March. The 778-megawatt facility is scheduled to start operating in mid-2017.

Panda is a private-equity firm that’s primarily focused on building large-scale, natural-gas power plants.  It operates three power plants in Texas and has two others plants under construction in Pennsylvania.

“This advanced facility will provide power for one of the fastest-growing counties in the United States and will also be one of the cleanest power plants in the nation,” Todd Carter, president and senior partner of Panda Power Funds, said in a statement.

Panda has selected Bechtel Power Corp. and Siemens Energy Inc. to build the plant. Bechtel will provide project management, engineering, procurement, construction, and startup services, while Siemens will be responsible for elements such as turbines, generators, and boilers.

The power plant is expected to generate approximately $20 million a year in direct and indirect spending in Loudoun County, increase the tax base and provide revenue to Leesburg.  Some 800 construction jobs will be created during construction, as well as around 30 long-term jobs once the plant opens.